Analyse How the Central Values Portrayed in Donne’s Poetry Are Creatively Reshaped in W;t.

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The spiritual pilgrimage to service one’s passion for redemption is furthered by reconciliation facilitated by religious milieus, however requires suffering and humanistic experiences in a secular paradigm. Vivian’s shifting psyche whereby she discovers the need for emotional connection to attain liberation in a contemporary context is hindered by her concern with self-effacement and dignity in death. Thus, Edson employs a satirical intertextual reference to Donne’s sonnet “My Play’s Last Scene” in “my pilgrimages last mile...I have broken the record...but I flatter myself…” as the protagonist seeks repentance, illustrating her ineptitude in reaching personal fulfilment due to a lack of human connection. Akin to this, Donne’s poem explores the religious search for reconciliation to achieve salvation through pleading with God for forgiveness in death pursuant to his religious context. The poet’s abandonment of earlier love poetry owing to his spiritual crisis wherein he transitions from Catholicism to Anglicanism is exemplified in Donne’s fearful personification “gluttonous death will instantly unjoin my body and soul”. The implicated notion that reflection upon one’s spiritual journey is essential in achieving salvation is furthered by the persona’s fear of unworthiness to ascend to heaven in the volta break “As my soul to heaven...takes flight” where an acknowledgement of death’s inevitability with the spiritual comfort of immortality orchestrates the persona’s release from sin. Edson skilfully adapts such notions in a secular milieu through posing that “infernal tests” are necessary in achieving salvation due to a lack of perceived emotional connection; with the playwright incorporating black humour in the protagonists reflection “It would be a relief to be a cheerleader”. Vivian’s anagnorisis of her academic obsession is aided by Susie through the symbolism of the popsicle whereby the protagonist undergoes shared emotional experiences, which ultimately allow her to shed the academia of Donne’s metaphysical poetry for the emotion of Shakespeare; as evidenced by the intertextual reference “And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”. Thus, the final scene of the play elucidates how experiences of humanist spirituality allow for liberation in a secular paradigm through a religious allusion in the stage directions “The instant she is naked and beautiful, reaching for the light - Lights out”. It is evident that through humanist spirituality and experiences of suffering, Edson adapts the religious values of Donne’s Renaissance poetry to suit a secular milieu.

In summary, the importance of emotional connection in allowing individuals the capacity to achieve salvation and comfort in death is one immortalised across both the Counter-Reformation context of Donne and the postmodern secular milieu of Margaret Edson’s “W;t”. Whereas in Donne’s poetry however, religious research and subversion of contextual authorities served as a form of liberation, Edson poses that a lack of spiritual and emotional connection through academic obsession inhibits personal fulfilment. Ultimately, Edson reshapes ideals surrounding reconciliation as a catalyst for redemption through the notion that humanist spirituality and suffering are essential components in reaching ascension.

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